Century Real Estate raises Rs 520 crore from Piramal Group

BENGALURU: Property developer Century Real Estate has got about Rs 520 crore in a mix of structured debt and construction finance from Piramal Fund Management, the real estate investment arm of Ajay Piramal Group, according to sources familiar with the matter.

This is the second fund raise by the company from Piramal, in less than a year. In September, Century raised about Rs 720 crore for multiple projects from Piramal and Altico Capital India. With Piramal contributing about Rs 180 crore then, the NBFC’s exposure to Century has crossed more than Rs 700 crore.

Both Piramal and Century declined to comment when contacted by TOI. NBFCs of Piramal, Altico and KKR have gathered momentum in the last few years as property developers find it difficult to borrow from banks due to a prolonged slump in the sector.

Out of the fresh amount raises, Rs 250 crore will to be used for the company’s on-going projects with main focus on Century Ethos and Century Artizan while the remaining will to be used over the next one year for Century’s commercial and residential developments of about 8.5 million square feet, the sources added.

Piramal has been betting big on the city's real estate market though it has remained subdued for the last two years. The company started investing slowly in the Bengaluru market three years ago, but the real push came since 2014 and it aims to take its exposure to more than $1 billion this year.

Century, started by Dayananda Pai in 1973, develops projects both through partnership with other developers and on its own. It has a land bank of more than 3,000 acres and a development portfolio of more than 20 million square feet of office buildings, residential and hotels.